A transgender woman who won a landmark court case over gender identity has been using her platform to raise awareness about the plight of her community.
Roxanne Tickle, 54, was awarded $10,000 in compensation on Friday after the Federal Court ruled she was discriminated against when she was banned from the Giggle for Girls app in 2021.
Although Ms Tickle, who transitioned in 2017, is listed as female on her birth certificate, the app’s founder, Sall Grover, argued that Ms Tickle did not meet the platform’s single-sex entry requirements because she is biologically male.
The app and Ms Grover were also ordered to pay Ms Tickle’s legal costs.
Ms Tickle has been sharing her transition experience for the past seven years on her website and social media, where she fights for transgender rights.
On Instagram, she frequently shares memes that challenge anti-trans rhetoric and offer insight into the transgender experience.
Last month, she shared a post to educate people about how transgender people feel disrespected and like their identity doesn’t matter when others ignore their gender pronouns.
The chart, titled “10 Things You’re Actually Saying When You Ignore Someone’s Pronouns,” includes: “your safety is not important to me” and “your identity is not real and should not be acknowledged.”
Roxanne Tickle (pictured left) has been using her platform to campaign for transgender rights.
In another post earlier this month, she shared a meme highlighting the “confusing speech” children of her generation were taught in elementary school.
“It’s very simple. If you were born with a vagina and have naturally high levels of testosterone, you are a man,” the post begins.
“If you have a vagina and you take testosterone, you are a woman. But if you have a vagina, you will never be a man. But if you have higher levels of testosterone, you will never be a woman.”
Other posts detail her transition process, including the letter she sent to the government to legally change her name and the friends who showed her how to use sanitary items.
Ms Tickle has also hit back at controversial figures including Harry Potter author JK Rowling and former Liberal candidate Katherine Deves over their views.
In February, when surf brand Rip Curl came under fire for using a transgender woman to promote its brand (before deleting the photos), Ms Tickle stepped in and slammed the company as “cowards”.
Ms Tickle also frequently shares news stories that show grim statistics about the mental health of LGBTIQ community members and upcoming legal changes.
In 2021, it welcomed a report by the Australian Human Rights Commission, which called for changes to protect the rights of members of the LGBTIQ community.
Ms. Tickle shared the above post last month.
Ms Tickle shared the above post earlier this month, writing: “This is for everyone confused by the discourse, vitriolic in some parts, about people who are not men or women strictly according to the simplified rules we were taught in primary school.”
Ms Tickle also welcomed the changes made to the Australian curriculum.
“With the amount of people hating trans and gender diverse people right now, it’s easy to forget that it’s not legal to discriminate against someone based on their gender identity,” reads a third post.
“Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Non-binary people are non-binary people.”
In another post, she applauded the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority for teaching trans-friendly terms in schools.
She said she couldn’t stop crying after learning that children are now taught how to “not ‘Everyone is strictly male or female.’
“There will be many future lives lived and they will be more rewarding now that we have remembered this aspect of ourselves,” he said.
She also frequently seeks to debunk myths about trans people and raise awareness about the experiences of the LGBTIQ community.
In June, she shared a link to a magazine article titled ‘How to Hook Up with Trans People: A Beginner’s Guide’ along with the caption: ‘We Only Bite If You Ask.’
Ms Tickle, who is a hockey player, is also a strong advocate for trans rights in sports.
In 2020, Hockey Australia invited her to help develop their trans and gender diverse inclusion program for community hockey.
She was subsequently interviewed for media programmes and invited to events as part of the launch, being named the sporting organisation’s Pride Ambassador in 2023.
Ms Tickle was appointed as a Hockey Australia Pride Ambassador last year.
She uses her platform to speak out for transgender rights
On her website, Ms Tickle writes blogs discussing her experiences, debates surrounding transgender people in sports and exploring discrimination targeting the transgender community.
Their page also features a number of resources, including articles, films and podcasts, for people struggling with their gender identity and their families to turn to for support.
“My name is Roxy Tickle,” reads her website.
“I am transgender and live in regional Australia. I do not claim to be an expert on all transgender issues.
‘This is simply the story of my transition from male to female seen through my eyes, interspersed with other resources and stories I have found on my journey.’
The decision that Ms. Tickle suffered indirect discrimination marked the first time the Federal Court had weighed in on the issue of gender identity discrimination.
The court was told Ms Grover created the Giggle app as a “safe space” for women to interact with each other, free from male patterns of online violence.
Giggle’s lawyer, Bridie Nolan, argued that Ms Tickle was a man and so it was legal to exclude her from the app due to provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act.
She told Judge Bromwich the court was faced with the impossible task of determining whether a person was a woman based on her “psychological state” and whether she had undergone surgery to remove her reproductive organs.
“This case is a case of ‘what is a woman’,” Ms. Nolan said.
But Judge Robert Bromwich ruled in Tickle’s favor, saying he distinguished between discrimination based on gender identity and discrimination based on sex.
“The indirect discrimination cases were successful because Ms Tickle was excluded from using the Giggle app because she did not appear feminine enough according to respondents,” she said.
Roxanne Tickle is pictured leaving Federal Court on Friday after winning her gender identity discrimination case.
Sall Grover is pictured leaving court on Friday with supporters, including Australian Women’s Forum chief executive Rachael Wong.
In a finding that could also have implications for other women-only spaces, Judge Bromwich concluded that even if considered a special measure to promote equality, the Giggle app was not permitted to discriminate on the basis of gender identity.
The compensation amount is a small fraction of the $200,000 Ms Tickle had sought, half of which was based on aggravated damages.
The latter was based on an online campaign allegedly carried out against her by Ms Grover primarily on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Following the decision, Grover wrote on X: “Unfortunately, we received the verdict we expected. The fight for women’s rights continues.”
Following her victory, Ms Tickle said she was pleased with the result and hoped it would be “healing for trans and gender diverse people”.
“Most of the time I’m just living my life and being who I am, but a small group of people have taken the liberty of declaring that I am not who I know I am and have set out to make my life miserable,” Tickle said in a statement.
“This case and the unlawful and discriminatory exclusion from the Giggle app have robbed me of the last three years of my life. I have been the target of hateful comments online and degrading products designed to ridicule and mock me.
“The verdict shows that all women are protected from discrimination. I came forward to show trans people that it is possible to be brave and stand up for yourself. I know I can now move on with the rest of my life and have a coffee on the street with my friends, play hockey with my team and put this atrocity behind me.”
Friday’s decision can be appealed.
